By Theckla Gunga – EMTV News, Port Moresby
The Papua New Guinea Government is planning on asking the Australian government to use two airports in Australia as parking venues for planes that will be transporting world leaders for the APEC Summit in November.
PNG APEC Coordination Authority’s Director General, Sir Charles Lepani said this is because there will be more planes arriving in the country during the week of the Leaders’ Summit. These include planes from the US Air Force, the Russian Military and the Indonesian Army.
Sir Charles made these remarks when addressing the NBC Press Club in Port Moresby yesterday.
The APEC Summit is almost 6 months away. Based on planning conducted by the APEC Authority, it is estimated that close to 15,000 delegates will be coming to PNG for the Leaders’ Meeting. It is also estimated that close to 2000 planes will be bringing in these delegates.
The PNG APEC authority is expected to ensure that there is enough space to park all the aircrafts.
In terms of PNG’s preparedness towards hosting the Leaders’ Summit, Sir Charles says PNG has an advantage in the logistics and routes that will be used during the Summit.
He explains that the routes from the airport to the accommodation sites, the APEC Haus and the International Convention Centre are quite direct, and will not affect the movement of Port Moresby residents. Security of world leaders remains the biggest concern for the PNG Government.
Sir Charles says although Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the US are assisting, PNG will lead the security operations.
